WALES will mark International Nursing Day by linking up with members of 203 Field Hospital in Afghanistan.

More than 60 NHS staff from Wales are currently working at the hospital in Camp Bastion, as part of a three-month deployment.

The event at the University of Glamorgan on Wednesday marks the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth.

Professor Donna Mead, Dean of the Faculty of Health, Sport and Science at the University of Glamorgan, said: “Professional nursing began as a consequence of the terrible suffering experienced by soldiers in Scutari and Balaclava.

“In a world where there is so much suffering from both man made and natural disasters it is important that individual men and women are prepared to deploy to disaster zones world wide-wide to provide humanitarian aid in the form of expert care.

“The University of Glamorgan has provided an MSc in Disaster Relief Nursing for the last 10 years and takes pride that its staff and students have now served in over 30 countries which have been ravaged by war, natural disasters and endemic diseases.

“At the moment a number of its staff and students are serving in Afghanistan.

“The opportunity to have a live link with them on International Nurses Day makes this a memorable occasion. We believe that this is the first time that a civilian and military link of this sort has been made.”